Region 3-A: Wagener-Salley HS vs Ridge Spring-Monetta HS

If one may have noticed throughout the weekend peering at the brackets on the SCHSL website that not all of them were finished – there was a reason for that. That is because several matchups among playoff teams occurred on Valentine’s Day to decide where those teams would begin their playoffs. One of those was a neutral site matchup between Ridge Spring-Monetta and Wagener-Salley from the Region 3-A ranks. The result was the Trojans defeating the War Eagles by a final score of 52-27. Prep Girls Hoops was on site for the Valentine’s Day contest. Here are some notes and takeaways from Trojans vs. War Eagles. <strong><em>Flurry in the Fourth </em></strong> Ridge Spring-Monetta and Wagener-Salley battled each other to what was a close contest throughout three quarters. The Trojans had a 33-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter and it was a closing stanza dominated by coach Gail Johnson’s Ridge Spring-Monetta team. The Trojans outscored Wagener-Salley by a margin of 20-5 in the final frame, en route to the lopsided Ridge Spring-Monetta victory. <strong><em>Neutral Site</em></strong> With the game being a tiebreaker, Ridge Spring-Monetta and Wagener-Salley had its get-together at North HS – another Region 3-A school. <strong><em>Thin Benches</em></strong> Both the War Eagles and Trojans needed to get plenty of productive minutes throughout the game given the status of both benches. At the outset of the game, Ridge Spring-Monetta only had two available bench players and the same turned out to be true for Wagener-Salley. <strong><em>Primetime Performers</em></strong> <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/IMG_8793-scaled-crop-1651x1084-1644938897.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-388235" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/IMG_8793-scaled-crop-1651x1084-1644938897-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="175311" first="Meleah" last="Jones"]</strong> concluded her evening with a game-high 33 points. Among those 33 were 16 in the fourth quarter that went a long way in sealing Monday night’s contest for the Trojans. Ridge Spring-Monetta collectively scored 20 points in the fourth quarter – only four did not come from Jones’ hands. Jones will find a way to the basket – even without the ball in her hands, will shoot 3-pointers, attract double teams and delivers hustle plays. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/IMG_8806-scaled-crop-1350x887-1644939027.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-388239" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/IMG_8806-scaled-crop-1350x887-1644939027-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> Another one of the Ridge Spring-Monetta seniors was looking to establish herself early. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="174562" first="Mikenzie" last="Kinard"]</strong> finished with nine points – including seven that she scored in the first quarter. At a tall 5-foot-11, Kinard works hard near the rim to put up points with her offensive rebounding and attitude to never give up on a play. She will also play tough defense. <a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/IMG_8782-scaled-crop-1350x887-1644939230.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-388244" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2022/02/IMG_8782-scaled-crop-1350x887-1644939230-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a> <strong>Allie Davis (2024)</strong> led the way for coach Robert Frederick’s Wagener-Salley team with 14 points. She is versatile as she can play either in the frontcourt as a big or backcourt as a guard. She can score from anywhere on the floor – near the rim, midrange, from behind the arc or at the free throw line. Davis also displays impressive handles and remains active away from the ball. <strong><em> </em></strong><strong><em>Up Next</em></strong> The first round of the single-A SCHSL playoffs begin on February 16. If our guesses are correct comparing the Region 3-A standings to the SCHSL playoff format for its brackets, we may see Ridge Spring-Monetta host Great Falls while Wagener-Salley takes to the road to play Calhoun County. <strong><em> </em></strong><strong><em>Other Valentine’s Day Games</em></strong> Greenville def. Greenwood 51-33 Greer def. Eastside 51-42 Landrum def. St. Joseph’s Catholic 39-32